PLAST Celebrates 105th Anniversary

Several hundred ‘plastuny’ (members of PLAST) traveled from across Ukraine to Lviv for a special celebration to mark the 105th anniversary of the founding of the National Scout Organisation of Ukraine – PLAST. Modeled on the international scouting movement, PLAST was established in Lviv in 1912, four years after England’s Robert Baden-Powell founded the scouting movement. It was April 12th of that year that the initial Lviv plastuny swore their First PLAST Oath. Co-educational from the beginning, PLAST adapts scouting ideals and combines them with a deep commitment to Ukrainian cultural heritage.

The celebrations began with a liturgy on April 8th, where PLAST members were thanked for their active summer camps and received a blessing for their endeavours over the coming year. The celebration then continued in Rynok Square, where Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi gave awards to Bohdan Hasyuk, one of the founders of Lviv’s PLAST organisation in 1991, and Halyna Tkachuk, chief counselor of PLAST since its post-independence creation. After the ceremony, PLAST members marched through the city centre to Lychakiv Cemetery for a solemn commemorative ceremony in honour of past PLAST heroes.